Next Spending Deal Could Grease Skids for Debt-Limit Increase

“It’s always the duty of the president and the Treasury secretary to defend full faith and credit of the United States,” said Robert Bixby, the executive director the Concord Coalition, a fiscal watchdog group. “And usually the opposition party, if they control one chamber of the House or Senate, is going to make a statement against the fiscal policy of the administration by saying, ‘This debt is your responsibility, so you come up with the votes to raise the debt limit.’ That’s been a bipartisan tradition.”